Indore: Wriddhiman Saha's gutsy century went in vain as Maharashtra crushed Bengal by 10 wickets to enter the final of the Ranji Trophy after a gap of two decades.
Maharashtra will take on the winner of the other ongoing semi-final between Karnataka and Punjab. Maharashtra last played in the Ranji Trophy final in the 1992-93 season where they lost to Punjab.
After a batting collapse in the first innings, Bengal put up a relatively better show in the second essay courtesy Wriddhiman's unbeaten 108 as they scored 348 managing to avert the ignominy of innings defeat.
Harshad Khadiwale knocked off the required eight runs in two overs on the third day as Maharashtra continued their dream run in the national championship entering the summit clash from Group C. Still it was a dominant performance by the Surendra Bhave coached side that finished the game inside three days having beaten heavyweights Mumbai well inside four days.
Left-arm seamer Samad Fallah (3/110) claimed three in the second innings to complete a match-haul of 10 wickets, while Dominic Joseph (3/80) and Anupam Sanklecha (3/84) also shared the spoils.
On the third day, the question was how long Maharashtra will take to dismiss Bengal for the second time rather than any imminent chance of a miracle.
The match went along the expected lined despite Saha's impressive effort that came off 146 balls. Saha hit 15 fours and a couple of sixes off left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar as he completed his eighth first-class century with a picture perfect straight drive off Joseph.
Saha was able to complete his century with some good effort from the tail-enders Sourav Sarkar (35), Ashoke Dinda (25) and Shib Shankar Paul (13). The eighth, ninth and 10th wicket partnerships yielded 45, 62 and 53 runs, respectively.
Although he is not expected to play any part in the New Zealand Test series, the century would definitely keep him in high spirits as he leaves for New Zealand with the other Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Zaheer Khan in a week's time. However, it was the same old story from the other end as none of the batsmen save left-hander Sudip Chatterjee (49, 92 balls, 9x4) contributed enough.
Likes of Arindam Das (34), Abhimanyu Easwaran (6) and Sandipan Das (12) failed consistently in the past few games as Bengal managed to cross 400-run mark only once this season.
It was due to herculean effort from skipper LR Shukla (608 runs and 12 wickets) and wickets on 'green-tops' from Dinda (40 wickets) that helped Bengal reach this far. Others have had minuscule contribution in the team's journey so far.
On the other hand, Maharashtra have put up a stunning performance since Bhave took over from Englishman Dermot Reeve under whom the team had got relegated to the group C in the last season.
With the likes of Kedar Jadhav, Harshad Khadiwale, Vijay Zol, Ankit Bawne and Sangram Atitkar scoring tons of runs, it became easier for the likes of Fallah, Sanklecha and Shrikant Mundhe (injured in this game) to attack the opposition with runs on board.
Their best win will certainly be against Mumbai, whom they defeated by eight wickets chasing a 250-plus score after conceding a first innings lead in excess of 120.
Nair completes hat-trick of tons as Karnataka takes lead
Nair completes hat-trick of tons as Karnataka takes lead
Mohali: Young batsman Karun Nair completed a hat-trick of first-class centuries in his debut season as Karnataka seized control on the third day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final against hosts Punjab, taking a 81-run first innings lead, here today.
In reply to Punjab's first innings total of 270, Karnataka ended the third day's play at 351 for five with Nair batting on his career best score of 107 in company of comeback man Amit Verma, who struck an unbeaten 65.
The duo added 110 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand as Harbhajan Singh and Co. were left frustrated with Manish Pandey (65) and wicketkeeper-batsman CM Gautam (48) also making useful contributions.
In the entire day, Karnataka piled up 312 runs to their overnight score of 39 for two and in the process lost only three wickets. With first day's play lost due to inclement weather, the match has effectively turned into a four-day affair where Karnataka will be aiming to bat Punjab out of the contest.
22-year-old Nair, who made his first-class debut this season, scored an even-100 against Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final, while he scored his maiden ton (105) against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla in the match prior to that.
He faced 191 balls during the day hitting nine fours. His innings was a mix of caution and aggression. While he punished the loose balls, he did wait for his chance when the Punjab bowlers were doing a good job. He was severe on anything offered on the pads, while he did play a lot of strokes late with loose hands opening the face of his bat.
He came in at the fall of Robin Uthappa (47), who was trapped in-front by Harbhajan with an off-break, as Karnataka were at 94 for three. Together with Pandey, Nair added 64 runs for the fourth wicket. Pandey played some good strokes including a pulled six off Manpreet Gony. However, Pandey lost his concentration after his half-century and edged a delivery from Sandeep Sharma to Gitansh Khera behind the stumps.
Once Gautam came in, there was no further damage as the two added 83 runs in only 18.5 overs with the glovesman hitting seven boundaries. Nair, on his part, hit a couple boundaries off Harbhajan's deliveries including one where he came down the track to hit the bowler through cover region.
Harbhajan finally got his second wicket when he fired one down leg side watching Gautam trying to give him the charge. The resultant catch was taken by Jiwanjot Singh at square leg. With 29 runs still to get before taking a first innings lead, Nair found an able ally in left-hander Verma, who was making a comeback into the team having last played a year ago.
He started off with a streaky boundary and his first six runs came off 59 balls. However, in his next five deliveries, he hit four boundaries which also got Karnataka the first innings lead. Nair, on the other hand, reached his third successive ton in 177 balls when he pushed offie Gurkeerat Singh through cover region for a single.
